One of Lego’s latest franchise themes has been the Toy Story sets, which have featured characters and scenes from the first two movies. Today, I’ll look at one of the system sets, Woody and Buzz to the Rescue, and tell you what I think of it. Now, to infinity and beyond!

First of all, I think Toy Story Lego sets are a great idea. Back when the movies were first coming out, I thought it would be cool to have some of the characters as mini-figures. And now they are! It’s just ten years later… but that still doesn’t stop me from purchasing the sets.

PresentationFrom the design of the box to the instruction manual, these are the first things you see before building the set.

The box art features the three characters of Woody, Buzz, and RC in this classic scene from the first film. And what a better way of selling a set than by having the race car rocketing towards you? There’s some other useful information here: you can see the Lego, Toy Story, and Disney logos on the top, and the set information on the left side. At the bottom, you have movie Woody and Buzz greeting you, as well as a picture to demonstrate RC’s pull-back motor capabilities. One thing I have to mention here: the set is named “Woody and Buzz to the Rescue” but this is clearly the scene where they’re chasing after the moving van, and they’re not really rescuing anybody. Oh well, I guess Lego wanted a name that would sell. (Better than “Rockets Explode” I guess.)

The back of the box shows some product’s special features, set against the cloudy background. You have an image of the two mini-figures, another one showing how to attach the rocket to Buzz, one showing RC’s pull-back motor, and a final shot of Woody and Buzz repairing RC. Luckily, they didn’t have to do that in the movie, or they would’ve lost the moving truck for sure.

BuildingHalf the fun is had building the set. How fun is it to build and how easy or challenging is it?

The bulk of the construction in this set comes with making the RC car. RC has a standard build, which is nothing too special. You use a few lift arms to lengthen it past the pull-back motor, and then the rest of it is mostly adding details. It’s not a particularly complex build, but it is still worthwhile. I sure preferred it over the builds of the Bionicle Stars sets. And best of all, if you don’t count the wind up motor, there aren’t any large, super customized pieces making up RC - it’s just a collection of standard Lego elements. I’d say that it’s a worthwhile Lego build.

Set DesignNow that the set is complete, we can critique how it looks from every angle. New or interesting pieces can also be examined here.

This set comes with a fair amount of pieces for a price of $19.99. Most of them are used to make up RC car, but a few go towards making Woody and Buzz look cool. As far as I can tell, only the Woody and Buzz mini-figures have any new molds, but RC has plenty of blue, red, and lime pieces to go around. There are a couple of painted pieces, like the water splashed wedges and panel, and the “Big One” cylinder piece for the rocket. Some other pieces of interest are the blue pull-back motor piece and the lime frying pans, which have never been in these colors before (as far as I can tell). The rest of the pieces are nothing special, but they’re not bad either.

Like I said earlier, the new molds are all in the mini-figures, and Woody and Buzz are pretty well done. Woody reminds me of the old Jack Stone figs, who were larger than normal but also incompatible with the regular figs. (I think; I never actually owned one myself.) Woody is larger, for sure, but he’s completely compatible. His legs are now one stud length longer than normal legs, but are otherwise the same. And his extra long arms fit onto a regular mini-fig torso, which I think is great. It would be cool to see Lego use more of these mini-figure designs in the future to create taller characters. Sadly, Woody’s hat does not detach from his head, so you’re out of luck if you want to play “Where’s my hat” with your Lego Woody.

Buzz is a regular sized mini-fig himself, but he comes with a detachable spacesuit with a half-dome helmet and detachable wings. I particularly like the wing pieces, which fit perfectly into his suit, but can also be used as hand held weapons. The head is also a new design, more like the narrow cylinder pieces rather than the typical mini-figure head. But it still easily attaches to a regular mini-fig body. Also, Woody and Buzz’s head pieces come with something that most mini-fig heads lack: noses!

As you can see, the parts to Buzz and Woody are compatible with each other and other Lego mini-figures. I think this is a great move, because some mini-figs in the past have had single large molds that don’t look like they transfer over well. (Yes, I’m looking at you, Star Wars figs.) But even without the compatibility, Woody and Buzz are some cool figs.

“Am I really that fat?”

But enough of just the mini-figs. Let's put them on RC.

As I said earlier, RC’s design isn’t spectacular. But, man on man, does it look like the character from the movie. I especially like the eye designs, which make excellent use of the frying pan pieces and look just like the character’s eyes. The color scheme is a little iffy at first: blue, lime, and red? But if you actually look closely in the movie, you can see that RC has some bits of red along with the blue and lime, so the set is being true to the films. Sadly, the overall car is out of proportion with Woody and Buzz, but this can be forgiven. What can’t be forgiven is the seating arrangement: there are only four studs opened on RC’s back, but he needs to fit two passengers! The best way around this, as pictured above, is to put Buzz on the spoiler, which allows him to be attached to his rocket at the same time. Unfortunately, in my case, the spoiler'S connection to the car’s body is very loose, and keepS falling off, even without Buzz’s extra weight. Additionally, the way the rocket connects to Buzz’s back isn’t perfect either, as it’s only connected by a loose pin so it tends to wobble a lot. Some of these problems can be solved by just removing the rocket from the picture, but that doesn’t help secure the spoiler anymore. So, really, RC should just run with one passenger at a time. And the antenna and eyes have a tendency of falling off in collisions, but they’re not as annoying as that spoiler!

PlayabilityThe other half of the fun is in playing with the set. How well does the set function and is it enjoyable to play with?

I think the high point of this set is how well it represents the characters, but it does have some play value. Despite all the designs, RC still has his pull back motor, and you can use it to make him zoom across the floor. And with the exception of the spoiler, antenna, and eyes, he is a very study car, and can handle a collision. And Woody and Buzz are also there to give you plenty of role playing opportunities. The one thing that is missing is RC’s controller; he is a remote controlled race car, after all, so he needs his controller. But considering the proportion issues with RC and the Woody and Buzz figs, I can see why Lego wouldn’t include that. Besides, it would get lost as you drove your RC around.

“I just lit a rocket. Rockets explode!”

Racing to catch up with the moving truck.

Roadside repair.

Final ThoughtsOnce it's all said and done, how does the set stack up? Should I get it?

ProsWhat's to like?

New mini-fig parts are compatible with other figs

Mini-figs look a lot like their respective characters

Buzz’s wings are removable!

RC has a good, traditional build

And he looks like his character too!

Pullback motor is fun to play with

Good selection of pieces for the price

ConsWhat's not to like?

RC’s spoiler has a tendency of falling off

RC only has room for one passenger to sit on his back

The rocket attachment on Buzz’s back is far too loose

RC is out of proportion with the mini-figs

Overall, I say this set is well worth the money. At $19.99 USD, it’s not super expensive, but you get three classic Toy Story characters with it, and they look so much like their movie counterparts that it’s hard to say no to this set if you’re a fan of the movie. Additionally, RC offers plenty of racing playability. Of all the Toy Story sets that came out this winter, I would suggest picking this one up first and foremost.